Catching Up - Sierra Norte and Palma Sola

THE COAST

We arrived to the coast today – north of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca. We were immediately hit by the heat – hot and humid here. And beautiful to see the blue ocean and tropical foliage. Green and lush close to the coast and dry in the mountains next to it. Our base for a few days is Rio Grande which is a small town on the road up and down the coast...Oaxaca's version of Hwy 101 in California.

This afternoon we went to the pueblo of Palma Sola, the pueblo where the promotora Lucia lives. We took a collectivo van north and then a taxi down a dirt/sand road to the pueblo crossing a dry riverbed. It was beautiful and tranquil there. Luz, Lucia's daughter was waiting for us when we arrived and took us to her home where there was a group outside waiting for us sitting in plastic chairs in a circle. It is rustic there, animals in the yard, chickens running loose and pigs tethered nearby. Stick fences encircle green areas of garden, or a tree that needs to be protected from the grazing animals.

We were welcomed and asked if we wanted some aqua. Thinking that she meant water we accepted and then remembered that agua is also the word for a fruit drink so we waited while she prepared one with hibiscus. A few more people arrived and we began.

During the introduction Lucia talked about her daughter Luz. Luz is 9 years old and is very small for her age. She was born two months early and weighed 3+ pounds. She had struggled a lot in school and could not learn how to read. She would get very angry about it and had a lot of resistance to learning and to school. She has been held back twice and is still in the second grade. She wants to be a doctor and Lucia would ask her how she will become a Dr if she can't read or write. Lucia is 50 years old and is going to school full time for basic literacy skills.

After Lucia came back from the workshop she gave Luz a treatment with needles. After the treatment Luz could understand the letters and was inspired and started learning. Two and a half weeks later Luz can do her ABC's and is beginning to read. He teacher says that if she continues like this they will not have to hold her back again. She showed us by sounding out the words on her mother's certificate:
"Aaa-cuuu-punnn-tuuurre"

Luz has a special energy about her. She feels like a healer already. She is very bright, kind and was helpful during the clinic. She received a session during the group treatments – she loves the acupuncture since she got such a profound result. She has made this whole project worth it for me.

The rest of the clinic went very well, 12 or 14 received acupuncture and others, adults and children received pressure seeds. We shared that this was a free clinic today but in the future they can give a donation to Lucia to help cover her costs. I'll continue to supply the needles but she will pay for the other supplies. A few people dropped of 10 pesos (about 75 cents) and are interested in coming back and bringing others. While the treatment was happening it reached that beautiful space of tranquility. There were outside sounds from the chickens, birds, pigs, children playing, the occasional truck going by, the cowboys on horses, while the energy in the circle remained peaceful.

SIERRA NORTE

It was so different from the last clinic in the Sierra Norte in the Mixe region last week. I didn't write about that for various reasons. One was that I so ill from the drive. It could have been from the windy roads. It could have been from taking dramamine for those roads. It could also have been from the altitude of the pueblo. The dizziness and nausea lasted through much of the week. I also didn't write because I had to process internally how I felt about that clinic. Two young women from the pueblo, 16 & 17 years old, had been sent by the head of the women's group to take the workshop. They were shy during the workshop, one more than the other. They had practiced a little since the workshop but this was their first time doing a group. There was a large group of women there. Many of the women did not want to receive a treatment due to their christian religious beliefs (I don't recall which branch of christianity, one of the one's that refuses any sort of medicine). They seemed to resent being asked to be quiet while others were receiving treatments and left with what I perceived as an attitude. The communication was all in their indigenous language Mixe so I missed a lot of details. The young women did a good job but it did not seem to be a comfortable setting for them. I doubt that they will do many clinics like this. What I hope is that they continue to practice with family and friends and that they will keep up these skills and use them when needed. It made me question bringing this style of healing into this culture. It is an Asian value to be quiet and inward. In these pueblos they tend to be talkative and loud. Do people really need to go inward or quiet? Ultimately in the session there it was mostly the elders of the community who received the treatments and they seemed to relax into it. I am curious to hear later how it goes there and what the response actually will be.

This Sierra Norte pueblo was in a beautiful setting – it was like Oregon. It was up in the clouds with trees and ferns. Next to the basketball court where we treated the women, men picked coffee and avocados. There was a small market of 3 people selling vegetables and kitchen goods from folding tables. While the treatments were finishing up, a delivery truck arrived and many people came out to unload it and carry the 50 pound bags of something. It was interesting seeing how people there work together and I am curious about life in a remote Mixe pueblo.

I left the pueblo with lots of questions. Today at the coast was a different story. We were given presents before we left today – a bag of mangoes, of two types of bananas, and tostadas made with chervil, a green herb. We were give the present of an amazing testimonial. Of a community that made us feel welcome. And, for me, the present of feeling that what we are doing can help a small village become healthier in ways that we can't even imagine.